Oath of a Father
by Vintage Taylor
Summary: Unbelievable. One of the most important moments the boy will ever have in his life, and his father slept through it all! He wasn't even impressed by the armor and swords! Father/son two shot. (complete)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: A two chapter one-shot I've been wanting to do for awhile after learning about the Oath of the Horatii in my art history class :-) sometimes, being a nerd pays off lmao. I hope you guys enjoy! I had so much fun with this. I'll be working on my two other DBZ stories in the meantime, and don't worry; Vegeta's dream is totally non-canon. Hahah. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"But _Daaaad_!" The whining of the young lavender-haired boy could be heard all throughout the large estate known as Capsule Corp. He was stamping his foot in protest against his father's rejections. What was his problem, anyway? He was the main star of the school's first play of the year. His father should be proud of him! Glancing over his dad's agitated features, Trunks spoke again. "It's one night, only! And then I'm dropping out of the drama club!"

Vegeta's agitation grew. He felt deep remorse for the first time from having his son away from school to help defeat Buu. Due to all of the absences, his principal gave Trunks an ultimatum so he'd be able to move on to middle school: join a club, or repeat the sixth grade. "It's your own damn fault. Could have joined a sports team or something, but you threw away your pride for... that damn musical."

Trunks face was red, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Dad, I told you there were no spots open for the teams. It was either this, or the _mathletes_." He shuddered at the word. He then stuck up his chest, trying to show his father that even though they both felt disgust for the activites Trunks has been involved in, he still had pride in himself. "Still, I'm better than all those other losers. That's exactly why I'm the star!"

Vegeta looked over his son, a slight sigh escaping his lips. He rubbed his temple, trying to soothe the headache that his family always provided him. "What play is it?"

The young boy was shocked by his father's question, not quite expecting it. He cleared his throat. "Oath of the Horatii."

The prince searched his mind, trying to see if he had heard of this Oath thing before. Since everything on Earth was finally at peace, the Saiyan found there was so many hours in a day. He decided to give reading the massive collection of books Dr. Brief had in his study to pass the time, amused at some of the concepts he was beginning to learn. There had been a few plays, but this one had no familiarity. "What's it about, boy?"

Trunks was grinning from ear to ear at his father's questions. This was a sign of interest. "It's a Roman legend! Ancient!"

Vegeta's eyes suddenly sparked of interest when he heard his son's opening sentence. He was fond of the Roman empire, they reminded him of a weaker version of the Saiyans. They had pride, honor, dignity. Something Vegeta realized the 'strong men' of earth today were completely lacking. "Continue."

"Well, there are three brothers from Rome, who are the Horatii. There has been a war going on between Rome and Alba Longa, another Italian city where the three Curiatti brothers are from. They decide to end war by fighting each other; these two sets of three brothers!" Trunks was nearly jumping up and down, not able to hold his excitement. "The Horatii brothers promise their father that they'll only return if they have killed the Curiatti brothers! Only one Horatii brother survives, having killed all three Curiatti!"

Vegeta smirked, taking in all of the words his son spoke. "You play the superior warrior that returns home, correct?"

Trunks was glowing with pride, and he stuck a finger to his chest. "Yes! Yes. I. Am!"

The Saiyan prince leaned back in his chair. The two were sitting in the Vegeta's room after training together. That training was ended abruptly however, when Trunks would not give up on trying to get his father to come see his performance tonight. However, after hearing that summary, Vegeta was interested. "Sounds gory for a play with child actors."

"I guess it does," Trunks laughed and scratched the back of his head. "But we adjusted a lot so it won't traumatize anyone or nothing."

Vegeta frowned, disappointed. "So no bloodshed?"

"No!" Trunks laughed harder, looking at his father's face. "I hope you're still convinced, though. I'm going to start getting ready. I have to be there two hours before the audience arrives."

With a hopeful kick in his step, Trunks ran to his room to put on the handmade Roman soldier uniform. He stopped mid-step when he remembered some vital information. "Oh, Dad?"

A grunt was heard from the room down the hall.

"Goten is one of the Curiatti brothers," he said sneakily. "And he gets killed first."

That sealed the deal.

* * *

Vegeta's eye twitched at the number of people who came to attend the event held at the school's auditorium. He wasn't sure if he was more angry about having to sit next to Goku, or at the outfit his wife had forced him to wear. He looked over the Saiyan beside him in disgust. "So, your woman made you wear this horrendous garment, as well?"

Goku laughed. "Aw, come on, Vegeta. Tuxedos aren't that bad. Plus, we are doing it for our boys, not ourselves."

Vegeta mumbled under his breath, looking to his left side now at his wife. "Woman," he announced, gaining her attention. "How long will this ridiculous outing last?"

Bulma shot her ill-mannered husband a deadly sapphire glare, fuming. "It's not ridiculous, Vegeta, and I've had it up to here with your complaining! Your son has worked so hard for this just to get through school, and you're not even supportive of him!"

Vegeta returned the glare. "Don't be stupid, woman. I came here, that obviously means something!" He saw Bulma's anger begin to fade, making him continue. "All I asked was how long this blasted thing is."

"Two and a half hours." Bulma's words were spoken bluntly.

"Shit!"

Her husband's profanity caused the woman in front of them to turn around and give him a disapproving look. "For goodness sake's, this is a children's play!"

Not able to conceal his anger at the moment but not wanting to start a brawl, he simply showed the stranger his middle finger. A gasp escaped from the mouths of the Son family sitting on the right of him, all of whom were watching the ordeal unfold. A pregnant Videl stretched her head up to get a glimpse of Bulma, silently offering her help. The blue-haired woman gave her a smile of assurance, and Videl went back to her previous position.

Bulma looked at the woman apologetically while lowering down her husband's hand, squeezing it tightly as she placed it hard on his leg. "My husband has Napoleon complex. I'll make sure he watches his mouth the rest of the night."

The woman nodded approvingly, but sent one last glare to Vegeta before she turned back around. Bulma's smile went to a scowl. She was still holding her husband's hand, but tightly, hoping it might hurt but knew there was no chance. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she whispered. "What if she's a mother to one of our son's friends, and you just embarrassed him?"

Vegeta shrugged, but his eyes held confusion. "What the hell is Napoleon complex?"

"Don't worry about it, husband."

"Woman!" Vegeta broke the grip of her hand on his easily. "If I have a disease, it is my right to know the truth!"

Gohan, Videl, and ChiChi tried stifling their laughter, but were unable to hold it in. Goku looked at them, then at Vegeta, then back at them. "Hey, what's so funny?" When they didn't answer, Goku frowned. "HEY!"

His loud voice caused the laughter to cease, and Chi Chi looked at him with pure confusion. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Vegeta has a disease. It's not nice to laugh at him." Goku crossed his arms angrily, looking exactly like the Saiyan beside him. Gohan, who was in the seat beside ChiChi, slapped himself in the face. His father didn't know what Napoleon complex was, either.

"There's nothing wrong with him, Dad!" Gohan chuckled, and then a little too loudly announced: "It just means that the reason he is so angry all of the time, is because he's short."

Everyone could feel Vegeta's anger flare up, but Goku's eruption of laughs distracted them.

"That is NOT why I am angry!" Vegeta yelled, almost everyone around them were now staring, causing Bulma to melt in her seat. Vegeta's intense glare didn't help. "I am angry because the way your son described this play, I thought it would be done in five minutes. It's the only reason I came to this blasted thing- AND SHUT THE FUCK UP, KAKAROT!" He caught the woman from before turning around to face him once again, but seeing his threatening expression, she turned right back around.

Bulma rolled her eyes. Her husband was almost as naive as Goku, sometimes. "Trunks just gave you a summary. There is so much more to the plot than that."

Vegeta groaned, slouching deep in his seat. After a couple of minutes of the embarrassing display that unfolded, Goku and ChiChi changed the subject and began talking to Videl and Gohan about names for their grandchild. All he could hear was the sound of innate chatter from all the people scattering in the auditorium to find the last remaining seats before the show began.

He opened an eye when he felt the dainty hand of his wife touch his shoulder, squeezing it. "Is that the problem? You're just exhausted, huh?"

Vegeta sighed, allowing the hand to remain since it felt so good at that moment. "I didn't mean to let that escalate... You're the reason I'm like this in the first place."

Bulma flashed him a brilliant smile, and giggled. "You're the one who wanted to keep it going all night-" She felt his strong hand cup her mouth in an instant, his face a light hue of red.

"Vulgar woman," he hissed. "Have you forgotten the idiotic company you allowed to sit with us?"

Bulma's smile never left her face as she removed her husband's hand from her mouth, and kissed it. "Well, Mr. Super Saiyan. Just stay awake for a few more hours for your son, and you'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight."

There was something in her eyes that made the prince believe she telling the truth. "Fine," he grumbled, sitting up a little as the auditorium began to darken.

"Hey, guys!" Goku elbowed Vegeta excitedly as the lights dimmed. "It's time!"

* * *

Vegeta looked at the people around, boredom showing in his eyes. He could not for the life of him understand what people found so amusing about the chubby child acting like a narrator on the stage before them, explaining the same story Trunks had told him earlier that day. He still couldn't believe that happened today. It's been such a long, long day...

"Keep your eyes open, prince!"

He shot his wife an annoyed look, but his gaze went immediately back to the stage as he watched his son march across it, two small boys following behind, a spotlight chasing them every inch. He suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart watching Trunks in his Roman soldier outfit, all eyes focused on him. The helmet had his hair hidden, and if it weren't for the lavender eyebrows, he looked exactly like a mini-Vegeta.

"Oh, Trunks!" The woman beside him quietly whispered, her eyes watering and lips quivering. Her pride for him was impossible to contain. Her little boy was growing into a man.

"Man," Goku whistled, and elbowed Vegeta a second time, much to his chagrin. "Trunks sure looks good up there!"

Vegeta nodded in agreement. "He'd look much better in Saiyan armor, though."

Goku chuckled, and the two Saiyans brought their full attention back to the stage. Standing before Trunks was a taller boy holding three swords, and behind that boy were four girls, all kneeling down.

"My sons," the tall boy announced, doing his best to sound like a king. Vegeta laughed outloud at the fail, getting a smack from his wife to silence him. "The time has come for you to defend and sacrifice yourself for your country."

The boy's speech went on and on, and Vegeta's vision was becoming blurred.

The tall boy was now a spec.

A dot.

And then, the whole room turned black.

* * *

Vegeta reopened his eyes after taking in every single word his father had spoken to him. The day had come for him and his two brothers to defeat the Frieza army of three. His older brother, Raditz, was trying his best to look as brave as him. However, his younger brother, Kakarot, was slightly shaking causing Vegeta to roll his eyes.

He would be the first to die.

The three young men saluted to their father, who held out their three swords for them to take. As Vegeta grabbed his, his eyes focused in on the woman holding back tears behind his father. Her hair was blue; eyes even bluer. If there was one thing he was jealous of when it came to his brother, was that he got such a beautiful woman to marry him.

"Please Kakarot," Bulma cried out, finally letting the tears flow. "You don't have to do this! Either you'll defeat my brother, or he'll defeat you!" There was so much pain coming from her plea, that Vegeta almost forgot that one of Frieza's people, Zarbon, was her brother. Either way, she was going to lose someone.

Vegeta looked away from her in disgust, now only seeing a pathetic and weak woman instead of the beautiful one had seen just moments ago. Suddenly, he didn't feel so jealous. "You've chosen a weak mate, Kakarot. She'll pay for that in due time."

The messy-haired Saiyan warrior forced himself to keep his eyes off Bulma. "It's my duty to fight alongside my brothers. And if that means killing your brother... Well..." Kakarot reached up for the sword, not finishing his sentence.

The king sent his three sons on their way, leaving himself and the women emotionless, even Bulma, who was now hard as stone.

The Saiyan warriors traveled their way through the war-torn cities, half of the villagers fearing the sight of them while the other half silently cheered them on. They trudged their way up the hill and to the field where they were scheduled to meet once the sun rose. As they made their way to the burnt and bloody grass from previous battles, they noticed the three figures standing fifty feet away from them.

The three black-haired men raised their swords high with pride, and got into the traditional Saiyan fighting stance. Before Kakarot could even move, a knife quickly found its way through his heart, killing him immediately. The culprit was none other than his brother in law, Zarbon.

Vegeta showed no mercy as he decapitated the creature in seconds, not shedding a tear for his younger brother's foolishness. He picked up his bloody sword and let out a war cry before charging to his next victim.

* * *

"K-Kakarot..."

Goku looked over at the unconscious Vegeta, hearing his Saiyan name. He smiled brightly. "Isn't that sweet? The little guy is dreaming about me!"

"You're finally dead!"

Goku's smile quickly vanished, and he was going to open his mouth to speak before he felt his wife punch his arms. "Honey! Look! It's our baby boy!"

The younger Saiyan decided to ignore the sleeping one beside him, and looked at the stage to his son stabbing another boy with a wooden sword, ketchup squirting out of the fallen one's armpits.

Trunks had no lines to speak, thanks to the narrator speaking to the audience from behind the stage, so his main focus was completely on making the fight believable. His drama teacher had told him to take it easy though, knowing he could probably kill any one of his costars. The kid playing his brother was just killed by best friend, signaling his next action to murder Goten.

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten whispered, being discrete as possible. The narrator was talking loud enough and slow enough to buy them a few seconds. "Did you see your dad? He's knocked out! I wondered what happened!"

Trunks looked in confusion at the short half-blood before him, and in the corner of his eye spotted his father, in all his spiky haired glory, snoring in his seat with drool sneaking out of the corners of his mouth. The boy scowled. His father, the only one he wanted to be watching him, was asleep with boredom. Without a word, Trunks knocked Goten hard on the matted stage, the wooden sword tightly stuck in his armpit.

"OW! Whaddya do that for, Trunks!?" Goten cried out, and then froze when he noticed all eyes on him. He face was bright red, and then loudly announced: "OH, I AM SLAIN!" The mini Goku collapsed dramatically, sticking his tongue out as the audience erupted in laughter.

* * *

**The second part will be up tonight, guys! This will be a one shot split into two chapters, I don't want to make long stories when I have so many to finish lol. I hope you're not tired of seeing me everywhere :p But, like I said before, quality is better than quantity, so my writing isn't the best yet and would love advice to help me grow.**

**Thank you guys so much - have patience, if you truly enjoyed this, and the next part will be up either later tonight (my time lol) or tomorrow morning! **


	2. Chapter 2

After Vegeta had killed the third and last member of Frieza's army, he looked around at the bloody ground beneath him. His brothers were dead. Raditz was sliced into two, and Kakarot still had the knife through his heart. The Saiyan said a quick prayer, and then turned his back to leave the bloody battle field behind him. He did not shed a tear for his fallen brothers; they had died with dignity, sacrificing themselves for Planet Vegeta.

He was taught not to show emotions and become depressed over losing his brothers; but rather, be proud for knowing they all won the battle. Even if he was the last survivor.

The short Saiyan made his way up the steps of his palace, running past the columns and straight to his father whom was overcome with joy at the sight of his son. Noticing he was alone, King Vegeta lowered his head in silent understanding.

"Now I give you the hardest task of all," King Vegeta looked up to his last remaining son. "You need to tell Kakarot's wife what happened."

Showing no mercy in his eyes, Vegeta nodded and walk towards the woman who was resting her worried head in her dainty hands. Vegeta cleared his throat, catching her attention.

"V-Vegeta?" Her blue eyes were hopeful. "You're here... That means, that means you won!" She jumped up on her feet and embraced Vegeta, knowing full well he wouldn't return it. But still, she was in pain. Knowing that he won, meant that her brother had lost.

He pushed her away, his eyes hard. "Kakarot and your brother are both dead," Vegeta bluntly announced, showing no emotion. "They fought very well. You should be proud."

Bulma's heart was shattering into pieces at his words. She had lost her husband, and brother in a matter of seconds. All that was before her was the lone survivor, the most ruthless of all. The tears began to fall down her face, making her breathing short and heavy.

Vegeta's lips curled up into a snarl of disgust seeing her emotional state. "A weak woman like you does not deserve to live! Show some love for your home, and for your husband's sake. Be happy he died a hero and won, not cry for the lost."

He was in her face now, threatening to kill her if she wouldn't stop showing such shameful weakness. "I'll cut that pretty little neck of yours off now, if you don't stop this nonsense!" He began to whisper to her full lips. Even through his anger, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. "You repulsive little wench."

The hotness of his breath against her overtook her. She wasn't sure if it was her emotions getting the best of her, or the fact she hadn't gotten attention from a man in a long time, but she placed her lips on his, moaning as she did it.

Sensing how tasty this woman was, Vegeta pressed his lips against Bulma's harder and returned the moan until the sound filled the entire palace. He had never felt such a sensation quite like this before.

It was too much to handle...

* * *

Bulma had not paid attention to her husband ever since Trunks came on stage, failing to see her husband knocked out like a baby. It wasn't until her son wasn't part of the next scene that the moans of her name escaping Vegeta's mouth caught her attention.

"Bulma..."

"Uh, honey?" She shook his shoulder, but the prince didn't wake up. He was too deep in his dream.

"What a guy," Goku chuckled quietly, not wanting to distract anyone else from watching the play. He too had lost interest once his son disappeared offstage. "He was dreaming about me being dead a few minutes ago."

Bulma's stomach felt sick all of a sudden. "How long has been asleep!?" How could she not have realized it?!

"Since the play started!" The goofy Saiyan laughed more, and then stopped when he saw her expression. "Hey, what's wrong? Why do you look so upset?"

"Trunks saw him sleeping," she felt her eyes water up, knowing how much her son was hurting at the moment. "That's why he hit Goten so hard."

Goku scratched the back of his head. "I don't know why you're so upset, Bulma. Goten can take a punch, he is my son after all!"

"No, no," Bulma wiped a tear away. "It's not that. Trunks saw Vegeta asleep during such an important time in his life. He's not going to get over this easily."

Goku looked down at his feet, and then back at Bulma. He smiled brightly. "Hey, don't worry about it! I've done a lot of wrong things to Goten and especially Gohan, and they-"

"Enjoy the last kiss of your life, for now I take it away you weak woman!"

The blue-haired woman looked down at her 'better' half with frustration. What in the world was he dreaming about?

* * *

The lone Saiyan stabbed the already bloodied knife into the torso of his brother's wife, enjoying the sound of her screams. "A beautiful, but weak woman. What a waste."

* * *

Vegeta's eyes shot open, sweating like crazy. He sighed in relief seeing his wife looking down at him with a bewildered expression on her face. "Bulma... You're alive."

She crossed her arms over her chest, and raised an angry eyebrow. "Yes, is that a problem!?"

He ignored her question as he gaze went over to the Saiyan staring down at him with a big, stupid grin on his face. He scowled. "Oh, the clown is still alive as well."

Bulma was about to open her mouth to begin the hell storm that he surely deserved, but stopped when her son re-entered the stage to take his final bow alongside Goten and the other 'soldiers'. Their family's stood up, applauding and cheering loudly. Vegeta even threw his son a very small apologetic smile, to which Trunks returned with the death glare.

"Damn," Vegeta said to his wife, causing her smile to vanish immediately. "What's wrong with the kid?"

"What's wrong?! What's wrong!? Oh, I'll tell you what's wrong!" She turned so her full body was facing him. She struck her elbows out, placing her hands on her hips. It was her signature stance when it came to chiding her boys. "That little boy gave the performance of his life in hopes of impressing his father, who drooled the whole time! I won't blame him for not wanting to speak to you for years."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at her words. Trunks could care less about if he watched the performance or not, as long as he was there.

Right?

The prince looked at his son once more. The angry glare made his stomach uneasy as he knew it was directed to him. Suddenly, for the first time in years, Vegeta felt guilt was over his entire body.

* * *

The sunshine had crept into the window of Bulma and Vegeta's excessively large bedroom as the alpha male squinted at the light that had come too quickly. He grumbled, and reached a hand over to place on his wife.

Or, at least, where his wife should be.

Instead, his hand was on top of a golden retriever puppy, happily wriggling under his touch.

"The hell?"

Vegeta sat up slowly, and then the events that happened the night before had hit him like a bad hangover. The two families went out to dinner immediately following the play, much to Vegeta's chagrin. He knew how the night was going to go: Goku would stuff his face like a pig, Gohan would be telling cheesy jokes that got no laugh except from his child-like father, the two black-haired wives would go on and on about the new baby sure to arrive, and Bulma and Trunks would avoid any and all contact with Vegeta that entire night.

And that's exactly what happened.

They were silent all throughout dinner. They were silent on the way home. They were silent as he tried watching a movie with them. They were silent getting ready for bed. They remained silent until Vegeta thought it would drive him insane.

Lucky for him, his wife's heart couldn't hold back as she saw how upset he was becoming. She spoke up, watching him sullenly brush his teeth in their shared bathroom. "Trunks really needs you to speak to him. He needs to know his father cares about what he does."

Vegeta looked at himself in the mirror, and took a deep breath. There was no fighting her, this time. It was all on him. He muttered something only dogs could hear and then took off in the direction to Trunks' room. The boy was pouting on his bed, and didn't look up when his father entered the room.

"What do _you_ want?" He sneered, his eyes remaining on the red comforter.

Vegeta sighed. He was going to have to surrender. He took a seat on the bed beside his son, and began. "Listen, boy- Look at me! Listen. I know what I did today was wrong, and it hurt you. But I'm not going to lie to you, Trunks. That play was boring as hell, and I was exhausted. It's not a good combination."

The lavender-haired boy bit his tongue, knowing his father had to get everything out before Trunks responded unreasonably. His mother had taught him that useful information.

"You did look great up there," Vegeta continued. "But that was an imaginary battle... Child's play. I've seen you in real battle, and that has never bored me. I'm very proud of you, son."

Trunks couldn't hide his anger anymore. His face was a red hue, and a giant smile had formed on his face. He had only heard his father say once before, and to hear it again assured him that he meant it. "Thanks, Dad. I'm proud of you, too."

Vegeta smirked, and stood up to leave until Trunks blurted out: "I'm still mad at you, though!"

He looked over his shoulder in annoyance at the boy. "Why?"

"Because you're always breaking your promises! You promised me a puppy, you promised me a new sibling, and now you promised to watch me perform and look how that turned out!"

"No," Vegeta shook his head as he walked out. "No, no, no. Hell no!"

Vegeta's memories of last night made him groan, and he looked over at the golden demon creature as it licked his hand. Its red collar had a name tag on it that read _Biscuit._

Biscuit.

The Super Saiyan prince and warrior now had a puppy named Biscuit.

"How in the hell did he get me to do that?" Vegeta growled, and a loud scream came from his bathroom. He got up immediately, Biscuit nipping at his heels. The door burst opened before he could open it himself, a very ecstatic Bulma jumping up and down.

"Oh, Vegeta! This is the best thing in the world!" She gushed, the joy in her eyes overwhelming Vegeta who had just woken up. "I'm pregnant!"

"You're pregnant!" Trunks was standing in their doorway, wanting to find Biscuit but discovering exciting news instead. "I'm going to be a big brother! I'm going to be a big brother!" He ran over to his mother and grabbed her hands, the two jumping up and down. The little puppy was right there with him.

They were so engulfed in their happiness, that they didn't notice the Saiyan who had fainted on the floor.

Life was perfect.

* * *

**Hahaha :') I hope you guys enjoyed my little story! **


End file.
